Montréal, December 1, 2020 ‒ The Strategic Forum on cultural and creative industries held as part of the Relaunch MTL movement, powered by the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal and its partners, took place yesterday at the Palais des congrès de Montréal. Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Heritage, Nadine Girault, Minister of International Relations and the Francophonie, Minister of Immigration, Francization and Integration, Nathalie Roy, Minister of Culture and Communications, and Luc Rabouin, Ville de Montréal Executive Committee member responsible for economic and commercial development, took part in the event. During the Forum, nearly 600 participants had a chance to interact with close to 45 panelists about opportunities to ensure that this lever of the city’s economic development and international reputation can fully play its role in the relaunch.
During this event, cultural and creative industry partners identified major challenges exacerbated by the pandemic. The fragility and precariousness of the creative core – artists, authors, performers, and artisans – were already weighing on the sector before the crisis. The ban on gatherings and the closing of cultural venues only intensified this precariousness. These constraints were identified as those having the greatest impact on the sector since the beginning of the crisis.
While the crisis is still having a major impact on the sector, participants pointed to future business opportunities, namely experimentation and innovation to increase the visibility and enhance the positioning of the creative and cultural industries. Intellectual property and the digital shift were also identified as promising, whether in the creation, retention, or promotion of intellectual property or the acceleration of the digital transition.
This prioritization of solutions initially presented in the Action Plan to Strengthen the Cultural and Creative Industries, jointly developed by the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, the Québec Film and Television Council, Culture Montréal, and La Guilde de jeu vidéo du Québec, with content partner, KPMG, is the result of a collaborative exercise conducted during the Forum. The action plan noted the uneven impact the pandemic has had throughout the industry.
“The Forum provided a great deal of intelligence regarding each of the subsectors of the cultural and creative industries,” said Michel Leblanc, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal. “Montréal has tremendous strengths, but we are all too aware of the great precariousness of its creative core, which needs our support. We found that, despite the difficulties, if we make the right decisions, the sector will be able to move beyond the current situation. Plus, the crisis has brought about new ways of creating that are likely to remain well after the pandemic. The Forum also shed light on the importance of sector’s discoverability, innovation, and internationalization. Clearly, the cultural and creative industries should be central to the strategy for the economic relaunch. The Chamber will continue to speak on the sector’s behalf to ensure its success once the crisis is over.”
“Throughout this unique period, partners have worked tirelessly to tease out solutions that allow us to picture emerging from this crisis bigger and stronger,” said Pierre Moreau, CEO, Québec Film and Television Council. “The audiovisual industry is a dynamic economic driver where creativity and innovation guarantee evolution. The relaunch will be the result of the concerted efforts of every industry actor who more than ever continue to make people dream, make them think, and entertain them as film and TV lovers.”
“While we are still in the midst of the crisis, it is essential to reflect on the post-pandemic world,” said Valérie Beaulieu, CEO, Culture Montréal. “Given the difficult period the cultural scene is going through, it is practically impossible to identify avenues for common solutions because the pandemic has had such an impact on the different cultural subsectors. As such, we need to use days like this as springboards to foster the sharing of ideas and collaboration and to strengthen solidarity among the cultural and creative industry subsectors.”
“It is important to underline everyone’s cooperation to implement structuring projects for entrepreneurs in the creative industries,” said Nadine Gelly, CEO, La Guilde du jeu vidéo du Québec. “This crisis will have shown us the power of unwavering solidarity. It is essential to protect gains of an innovative and resilient industry where small and large businesses co-exist in a strong, unified ecosystem that makes a significant economic contribution to Quebec, even during the pandemic. We need to support the creative businesses in the province to continue to vocally claim our position as a leader on the world stage.”
The enhanced action plan, following a collaborative session held as part of the Forum, will soon be available on the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal website. While awaiting the updated version, you can find the action plan here.
About the Strategic Forum on cultural and creative industries
The Strategic Forum on cultural and creative industries, which is part of the Relaunch MTL movement, is jointly developed by the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, the Québec Film and Television Council, Culture Montréal, and La Guilde de jeu vidéo du Québec, in cooperation with Eidos-Montréal, Lavery Lawyers, and Ubisoft.
About the Relaunch MTL movement
The Relaunch MTL movement is powered by the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, the Government of Canada, the Government of Québec, the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal and the Ville de Montréal, in association with Investissement Québec and the Palais des congrès de Montréal, and in cooperation with the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the Conseil emploi métropole, CN, the Fonds de solidarité FTQ and KPMG. The movement is also created with the support of Air Canada, CGI, Desjardins, Hydro-Québec, La Presse, Montreal Gazette, RBC Royal Bank and Rio Tinto, and in partnership with Aéro Montréal, AluQuébec, the Association de la construction du Québec, the Quebec Film and Television Council, CargoM – Logistic and Transportation Metropolitan Cluster of Montréal, the Conseil québécois du commerce de détail, Culture Montréal, Écotech Québec, Femmessor, Finance Montréal, the Fonds de recherche du Québec, the Guilde du jeu vidéo du Québec, the Junior Chamber of Commerce of Montreal, mmode – the Metropolitan Fashion Cluster, Montréal International, Montreal InVivo, Numana, Propulsion Québec and Tourisme Montréal. More details on the movement at www.relaunchMTL.ca.
About the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal
With a network of over 8,000 members, the CCMM is active on two fronts: being the voice of the Montréal business community and delivering specialized services to businesses and their representatives. With its finger on the pulse of current events, it acts on issues that are decisive for the prosperity of the city’s businesses. With the support of the Acclr experts, the CCMM’s goal is to accelerate the creation and growth of businesses of all sizes, at home and around the world.
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Source: Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal
Information: Caroline Des Rosiers, 514 880-2881, cdesrosiers@national.ca
Related link:
http://www.relançonsMTL.ca